We live in the age of visual communication. Wine, a product that primarily appeals to the senses of taste and smell, is forced to rely on its single entirely visual component—the label—to attract customers.
A label must first and foremost meet stringent regulatory requirements. Any domestic wine label must include information such as the alcohol content, appellations, warning statements, and varietal identification. However, once these requirements are completed, labels are all about the manufacturers’ intended statement, both overt and covert.
So, what does it take to make a good wine label a great wine label? Here are some tips to help improve your wine labels:
Wine Label Theme
Does your subject or tale make a positive first impression? If not, you might want to consider hiring a wine packaging designer. That designer should be able to unearth and properly explain your story in a positive light.
Winery Logo
Make sure your winery logo is well-designed and legible. Perhaps the logo requires minor revisions or a complete makeover. When making a change, always start with a lettering study using various fonts to garner inspiration.
Adding hand lettering to your logo gives it a more exclusive feel, as no one else owns your identity. It’s well worth the money to hire a lettering artist that specializes in branding. Your winery’s logo becomes the brand identity, which will be used on all printed materials, including shippers, stationery, shopping bags, glasses, brochures, website and of course your wine bottles.
Label Shape
A unique label form can rapidly capture the consumer’s attention to the brand on the shelf. Labels with unique shapes stand out a little more. The printing die cuts will be more expensive, but it will be worth it in the end to enhance sales.
Texture
The paper choice is sometimes overlooked in wine label design for small vineyards. The textured paper indicates that this wine is of excellent quality. Consider all of the adjectives you use to describe your wine and choose paper that resembles them.
Color
Dark wine colors and jewel tones are often used on premium wine labels, but lighter colors indicate that the wine is offered at a more affordable price.
Whitespace
The more white space (negative space), the more consumers will consider it to be a higher quality wine.
Wine Label Details
Our brains are aware of subtle details such as beautiful embossing, which indicates that certain wines are more expensive. Other visual details we register are hot stamping, custom logo designs (that is, not clip art), and custom illustrations or graphics. These details show that your wine is of high quality.
Tell a Story WIth Your Wine Label
Remember, wine drinkers today look at wine like any other consumer brand you might buy in a supermarket. And just as a food maker doesn’t dream of packing food in a boring general package with a basic statement about what’s in the package, no winemaker should ever consider putting their wine inside a bottle with a bland, generic label.
Still, in many cases, that’s exactly what happens. Many wine labels only list the country of origin, the vintage, wine region and grape variety. When consumers come across these wine bottles in the store, everything must be left to their imagination.
Who is the winemaker? Why are these winemakers making this wine? These answers are unclear on common labels.
Therefore, an effective approach to wine label design is to think of a story that can be told directly on the label. Consumers are so visual that it helps if the story is also supported by graphic images that fit the plot.
Contact us today to get started on designing your great wine label that tells your winery’s unique story.
